Elves
Location: The Moon Government: Totalitarian Attitude: Xenophobic and Haughty The moon elves (though they prefer the term "Lunarite") are one of the longest-lived races in existence, and one of the most historically controversial. Though they weren't born upon it until they mass-migrated to it in ages past, almost all of them now live on the moon. Culture and Lifestyle Elves have a very homogeneous society. In ages past, they isolated themselves upon the moon, having no desire to be "infected" by the products of so-called lesser races, abandoning them and the world when their ancient sages unlocked the secret to lunar travel---the Moon Gates. Outside cultures and ideas are not welcome on the moon, and elves with opposing viewpoints know well enough not to voice them. All of elven society is centralized within the expansive reaches of the City of Glass, their capital. Magic is very important to elves and their history. They are naturally gifted with it, and even if an elf doesn't go into a full career of magical study and practice, they know spells for use around the home. Magic is what is responsible for every single advancement in their society and it powers their homes, transportation and lifestyle. Circles of teleportation, gravitational force generation, elemental energy sources, mana-harvesting crystals, soul shards, magical constructs for menial labor; these are all but a few of the examples of magic that the elves rely on for their society to function. At a young age, elven children are taken from their parents to the Assimilation Dome, which acts as their center of education and knowledge. Inductees live in pod-like dorms with several other students. School life is harsh, and any rebellious behavior is severely disciplined. The Assimilation Dome uses extreme methods to ensure that all of its students learn to respect and adhere to the rigid standards of elven society. Those who claim it is nothing more than a center for brainwashing and propaganda are silenced quickly and with little trouble. Most elves take on the professions of their ancestors, which leads to multi-thousand year lines of smiths, wizards, teachers, artisans, etc. They are quite proud of their family lines; elves that try to take on new professions are often disowned by the family. Each dome of the city acts as its own political organization. They each have their own leaders and set of laws. It's a federal system, with the domes as states. They adhere to a totalitarian rule, with the leaders of the domes having absolute, total control over the people and the society. Elves are extremely philosophical, and often have celebrity philosophers willing to proselytize to the masses. They tend to ask questions like, "Why... are Humans such filth?" As one could imagine, their relationship with the surface races is not a friendly one, but time has allowed it to heal to the point where outright hostility isn't the first response to their kind. Religion The elves are a deeply spiritual people, with an extremely strict pantheon of deities and practices. They believe that the gods created the world, using the moon as a pedestal on which to stand while they did. They created the world to be a reflection of the paradise which they then ascended to, leaving their children upon the world to have a chance to prove themselves worthy of joining them in that place. The elves believe that they are these children, and so as soon as their sages found a way to the moon, they migrated there, colonized it and have existed there ever since. As such, the elves worship the moon and treat it as holy ground. Their dedication to their religion is unwavering, and they believe that only through a strict adherence to it may salvation be obtained. As elves live for upward of a thousand years, death is a momentous event for them. One of the biggest religious practices that is allowed is Death Worship, whose main proponents believe in reincarnation. They feel that the ultimate goal for an elf is to become utterly detached to the physical realm so that when they die they won't be reincarnated. Elves that reach this state ascend to a higher plane of existence, a state devoid of pain or emotion---in other words, oblivion. History The elves of the current age aren't extremely proud of every aspect their history, but true to their nature, they cataloged it well. After the fall of the dragons, the elves were the first of the so-called lesser races to learn magic. Discovery of this power became one of their proudest moments and magic itself became ingrained in nearly every level of their society. Because they feared other races would discover it as well, they quickly used their newfound powers to conquer and subjugate everything they saw as a potential threat; namely, the dwarves and the orcs. The dwarves, a very industrious people, were used by the elves to build great monuments, temples and buildings. The elves took control of the dwarven breeding lines, allowing only desirable traits to survive in the species. It is said that the only reason dwarves have beards is because the ancient elves thought they were funny, and allowed only the dwarves with the greatest of beards to breed, which may be the reason why dwarves of the modern age take such great care of their beards. Another quality the elves wanted was skill in crafting, smithing, stoneworking, engineering and leatherworking, and much like their beards, the dwarves of the modern day excel in these fields. The orcs, on the other hand, displayed apititude for none of the things the dwarves did. Comparatively, the orcs were little more than dumb brutes before the elves uplifted them and transformed them into a warrior race. They instilled a number of values in the orcs that they deemed beneficial, and allowed only the strongest and toughest of the orcs to breed. They used the orcs as a military force, the vanguard of their own troops, in conquering and enslaving much of the continent. The orcs mentality eventually adopted this way of thinking as the only right way to do things. With the dwarves as their workforce and the orcs as their military fodder, the elves cemented their rule over the land and continued studying magic, seeking a way to ascend to the next stage of life: the moon. Their belief was that the gods had stood upon the moon while creating the world, and from the moon ascended into a realm of absolute paradise. As such, the elves knew that unless they could reach the moon, they would never join their deities in the afterlife. Though the moon is treated as a gateway or stepping stone in their religion, it is still heavily worshipped and considered the sovereign right of the elves; other races are fit only to look upon it in the night sky in jealousy. Eventually, the elves discovered the key to travelling to the moon and the practice of using Moon Gates became common for them. Once the initial preparations had been completed, the elves mass migrated to the moon almost overnight, taking all traces of their empire with them and leaving their slaves behind. The elves now resided in the City of Glass, and more construction over the ages saw its expansion until it stretched across many hundreds of miles. The elves care little for the history of the world that they weren't there for. As elven society took hold on the moon, their isolationist and xenophobic lifestyle began to emerge, fueled by their arrogance and pride. The elves had always seen themselves as a superior race, and this attitude may have been the reason why what came next happened. An elf, a powerful sorceress, ventured to the dark side of the moon alone. It is unknown what she truly found there, but when she returned, she was forever changed. Something dark had taken her over and now she wielded a power greater than any other elf in existence, quickly using it to supplant the elven leaders and establish herself as a cruel queen. This dark ruler soon controlled all of elven society, twisting their minds into worshipping her and brutally punishing any who resisted. Soon, she was in complete control, but yet she hungered for more and set her sights on the world below. She saw that, in their absence, a new race had taken over the lands that they had once ruled over; a pitiful little species called man. Knowing that a great conquest awaited them, she preached to the masses that the gods of the elven religion had spoken to her, telling her that until the world below is cleansed, no elf will ascend into paradise. The elves readied themselves for war, rallying behind their witch-queen. The elves struck without warning as they attacked the humans, using their potent magic against their formidable technology. They initially underestimated the resourcefulness of these humans, leading to some early losses in the campaign. Emboldened by their empress, they kept attacking, adapting to human strategies and tactics. Soon, all-out warfare had come to the continent, with armies of humans and elves clashing against each other, scorching the lands and leaving them barren and filled with corpses. The war went on for a long while, with neither side able to truly gain a distinct advantage over the other. Until, however, the humans revealed their newest line of Steamforged war automata: the Juggernauts. Titans of steel, flame and smoke, the Juggernauts stomped and smashed through elven defenses and proved an enemy they could not defeat on open ground. The empress knew that she needed a new plan as her people were forced into retreat. She consented to signing a peace treaty with the humans, that would keep the elves on the moon, but she never intended on keeping her word. Once all of her people were back upon the lunar surface and the humans, smug and confident that they had won the war, were in the prime state for her next move, the elves unleashed a massive amount of magic in an orbital bombardment that blasted human cities and sent the armies of man scattered. Finally, the elves were poised for a final assault on the human capital. The Dark Witch herself led the charge, overwhelming the human defenses. All seemed lost for the humans until, among their kind, a hero emerged holding a mighty sword that cut through rank after rank of elven warmages. He made his way to the witch herself and plunged the sword into her, killing her on the spot and releasing her control of the elven people, who quickly fell into retreat. But her cruelty knew no depths, and she reasoned that if she could not have complete control over the world, the moon and the elves, no one could. She unleashed all of her power in a terrible cleansing that washed over the lands, picking apart cities, plants, creatures and people caught in its black, necrotic fog. It blanketed the entire world, destroying the old home of the humans, before it reached up to the moon to do the same, destroying much of the City of Glass and its domes before solidifying into a great chain that bound the moon to the world below, symbolic of the Dark Witch's desire to never truly let the elves go and be free from the bonds of the world. What few elves survived this horrible attack managed to rebuild their lunar home, and became the forefathers of the current elven society. Some elves still remain upon the world below, trying to return to the moon. The elves have never outwardly attacked any other race since, unless acting in self defense. They are still the only race to have ever walked upon the moon's surface. Technology Notable Members Elven Settlements Category:Races Category:The Moon